14 New Zealand-based artists were partnered with contemporary overseas artists, from countries
more stricken by COVID-19 as kaitiaki (´caretakers´) of their partner´s work, ending with a 3 week exhibition.

artists
Aodhán Floyd, Cork, Ireland
April Shin, Auckland | Tāmaki-makau-rau (Korea) aprilshin.com
Ashleigh Taupaki, Auckland | Tāmaki-makau-rau sanderson.co.nz/Artist
Bev Goodwin, Auckland | Tāmaki-makau-rau instagram.com/bevgoodwinartist
Brenda Liddiard, Auckland | Tāmaki-makau-rau brendaliddiard.co.nz
Cathy Carter, Auckland | Tāmaki-makau-rau cathycarterartist.com
Chiara Rubino, Matera, Italy facebook.com/chiara.rubino.7
Emma Papadopoulos, Athens, Greece emmapapadopoulos.wordpress.com
Jessy Rahman, The Hague, The Netherlands jessyrahman.nl
Jumaadi Sydney, Australia / Yogyakarta, Indonesia mca.com.au/artists-works/artists
Lipika Sen, Auckland | Tāmaki-makau-rau (India) inhalingthespirit.com
Lissy and Rudi Robinson-Cole, Auckland | Tāmaki-makau-rau lissycole.com
Lloyd Lawrence, New York city, U.S.A. facebook.com/urbanjukejoint
Michelle Mayn, Auckland | Tāmaki-makau-rau michellemayn.com
Naomi Roche, Hamilton | Kirikiriroa wallaceartstrust.org.nz/exhibitions/salon-des-refuss
Narjis Mirza, Sydney, Australia / Pakistan narjismirza.com
Martin Wohlwend, Vaduz, Liechtenstein martinwohlwend.com
Masud Olufani, Atlanta, U.S.A. masudolufani.com
Nawruz Paguidopon, Manila, The Philippines linkedin.com/in/nawruzpaguidopon
Prabhjyot Majithia New Delhi, India prabhjyotmajithia.com
Phil Dadson, Auckland | Tāmaki-makau-rau vimeo.com/showcase/7171056
Pietertje van Splunter, The Hague, The Netherlands pietertje.net
Robert Hamilton, Ontario, Canada robert-hamilton.ca
Sen McGlinn, Kawakawa sculpturebysen.wordpress.com
Shaeron Caton Rose North Yorkshire, U.K. shaeron.com
Sonja van Kerkhoff, Kawakawa (The Hague, The Netherlands) sonjavank.com
Ursula Christel, Warkworth (South Africa) ursulachristel.com
Xiaojie Zheng, San Francisco U.S.A. / Wenzhou, China facebook.com/xiaojie.zheng.92
Yllwbro, North Island | Te Ika a Maui, Aotearoa mokopōpaki.co.nz

The care taking roles were fluid with some artists caring for works for more than one overseas-based artist and with some projects involving multiple artists.

We used zoom and other media to facilitate the presence and participation for all artists where ever they were located. So some artists were more involved in making new work while other artists showed existing work re-contextualized for this exhibition.

Opening, Tues, 23 March, 6:30 p.m.

Exhibition is open Wed-Sunday, 11-4 pm in artHAUS, 228 Ōrākei Rd, Auckland

Plus site specific installations in the adjacent Ōrākei Bay Village mall - follow the sign to Farro and look in the gallery on the right about 30 metre before the Farro supermarket.

Open Wed-Sun, 11 - 4pm, The NZ artists as part of their caretaking role sit in the gallery.

Tues 23, 8-9pm: Sonja   Wed 24 March: Sen McGlinn	Thurs 25 March: Brenda Liddiard   4-9pm: Sonja	Fr 26: Michelle Mayn   4-6pm: Brenda	Sat 27: Bev Goodwin	Sun 28: Ursula Christel
Wed 31 March: Phil Dadson	Thurs 1 April: Bev Goodwin	Fr 2 : GOOD FRiday CLOSED	Sat 3 April: Lipika Sen	Sun 4 : EASTER SUNday CLOSED
Wed 7 April: 11-12:30:Phil 12:30-4pm: Lissy + Rudi	Thurs 8 April: Jacob	Fr 9 April: Cathy Carter	Sat 10 April: Ashleigh Taupaki	Sun 11 April: Sonja

Programme of events during the exhibition, upstairs in the gallery

Film festival, workshop, artists talks and concerts

Tuesday 23 March, 8 - 9 pm, The One Hour International Short Film Festival (OHISFF)
All were NZ premieres. See the 2018 edition | Programme of 13 films

Thurs 24 March, 12-1pm, Poetry with your lunch
Sen will bring a selection of poems he has translated from Persian as well as poems by others in English on themes of the intercultural / trans-national and exile, and will answer questions. Bring your own lunch. Translations of a few poems | A thesis Sen edited | Sen McGlinn on Google Scholar



Thurs 25 March, 6:30-7pm, Tour and Tell of the works by Sonja van Kerkhoff

Thursday 25 March, 7:30pm, Sonia & Nigel in concert
Sonia and Nigel are an Auckland-based acoustic duo featuring French-American Paris-born Sonia Wilson on vocals & ukulele and Kiwi-American virtuoso musician Nigel Gavin on 7 string guitar.
Weaving French, Kiwi and American folk songs in with their original compositions and inspiration from their travels around the world, Sonia & Nigel will take you on an authentic, vulnerable and uplifting journey of joy, nature, humour, love, connection, nostalgia, celebration, harmony, travel and imagination.
Their gig facebook page

Sunday 28 March, 2-3pm, Brenda Liddiard in concert
Singer/songwriter Brenda Liddiard will be sharing an intimate acoustic concert.
With a history steeped in the folk revival of the 1960's in the UK, her eldest brother's love of Americana, and a passionate involvement in environmental and anti-nuclear campaigns, Brenda has been writing songs and playing guitar and mandolin since the 1970’s. Her recent songs cover topics from climate change to refugee issues, menopause (and beyond!), with a touch of humour here and there. Her album, "Box of Memories," was a finalist for Best Folk Album Tui Award, and she was recently a guest at the 2021 Auckland Folk Festival.
www.brendaliddiard.co.nz
youtube.com/watch?v=s-Z2PooP0aA
youtube.com/watch?v=1LuahgmJHkM

28 March , 11-4pm, Care Cards with Ursula Christel
Visitors to the exhibition are invited to read the story behind the images on the postcards from the installation. "Postcards from the Other Side" - and then write a note on a replica postcard, to the artist of their choice as a gesture of care. These will be posted to the artists after the exhibition. Maximum of 25 participants.

7 April, 1-4pm, Crocheting in all ways with Lissy and Rudi Robinson-Cole.
A koha for any materials participants wish to take home. Participants can bring their own wool and other materials. Workshop is for beginners to advanced.
Go see Auaha Haukura - their neon and crochet sculptural works on show until 9 April at
Fresh Gallery Ōtara - Photos on arts diary | Fresh Gallery location + opening hours

11 April, 2:30-3:30pm, Artists Talks: Cathy, Brenda, Michelle, Ursula + Sonja

Artist \\caretaker// projects

Robert and Bev | Nawruz and Lissy + Rudi | Lloyd, Shaeron, Robert, Xiaojie, Nawruz and Yllwbro | Jumaadi and Brenda | Jessy and Prabhjyot + Lipika | Pieterje and Phil | Chiara and Cathy
Martin and Naomi | Shaeron and Ashleigh | Masud and Ursula | Emma, Naomi and Sonja | Xiaojie and April | Narjis and Michelle

Ancillary projects: Selfies from the Other Side | Postcards from the Other Side | Emma, Aodhan, Bev, Sen + Sonja

Robert Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

and

Bev Goodwin, Auckland | Tāmaki-makau-rau

Since March 2020 Robert Hamilton (Ontario, Canada), who teaches in the Media Arts department at McMaster University in Hamilton, has not been able to go to his office nor has he physically seen any students. Currently he is holed up with his three teenage sons, one who was in quarantine in the house for 14 days after a trip away.

The footage for the video, Global Pandemic, shot by Robert Hamilton and Bev Goodwin over the same weekend, shows Robert's city neighbourhood in winter lockdown, contrasted against Auckland's Mission Bay beach - Bev's neighbourhood. View the 1 minute 34 second video here: https://vimeo.com/507342846

Robert Hamilton (1962, Canada) robert-hamilton.ca | instagram.com/rs_hamilton
Robert Hamilton is a Full Professor of Multimedia at McMaster University, Canada. He has a Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a second MFA from the Jan Van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, The Netherlands.

His research primarily involves digital video, animation and interactive gallery installations. He has been the recipient of ten Canada Council Grants and two Ontario Arts Council grants. Since 1986 Robert Hamilton’s artwork has been presented in numerous international festival, galleries and museums. His work has been exhibited in such venues as Hilversum Museum, The Netherlands 2008, Museum of Contemporary Art in Castello, Spain 2005 and Transmediale in Berlin 2004. His video work has won awards such as the German Video Art Prize and The Chicago Film Festival Silver Hugo Award.
Robert is also one of the five artists participating in: Yllwbro's project.

Bev Goodwin instagram.com/bevgoodwinartist
Auckland-based Bev Goodwin gained her Diploma in Fine Arts in Italy and furthered her studies in Design at Unitec, Auckland. Her works have been included in the Bondi Beach, Sculpture by the Sea (Australia), three times in the Auckland Botanic Gardens' Sculpture in the Gardens exhibition, where once this was a collaboration with Jeff Thomson; Kaipara Coast Sculpture Gardens; Outside the Square; NZ Sculpture OnShore (Devonport) and the Brick Bay Sculpture Park.

She focusses on sculpture and installations in wire, hosing, and other low tech, and recycled materials and often makes work for a specific location. For this exhibition she will make a site specific work as part of The Green Line project.

"While using unusual and recycled materials that mimic nature, I am asking the question: how fine is the line between the natural and the artificial? I hope to extend the imagination and possibilities in new found solutions."

She has work in national and international collections.
About her 2016 'girl' buoys in the Auckland Botanical Gardens. Her 'girl' buoys drew on buoys she saw on the sea from Sicily, looking like women dancing on the waves, and named each after a Greek or Roman goddess.

Nawruz Paguidopon,
Manila, The Philippines

and

Lissy and Rudi Robinson-Cole,
Auckland | Tāmaki-makau-rau

Lissy and Rudi Robinson-cole crocheted a sculptural 'frame' in response to the hand imagery in Naruw's animation, My Journey to BLISS and then Nawruz edited this animation to includes elements of Lissy and Rudi's own work. BLISS is the name of the low income suburb, where Nawruz has lived for 10 years, close to the University of the Philippines.

Nawruz Paguidopon (1985, Cagayan de Oro, southern Philippines) linkedin.com/in/nawruzpaguidopon
Nawruz moved from Cagayan de Oro to Manila in 2002 and completed a 4 year degree in Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines (UP) in 2007. Currently he works at the UP Film Institute in Manila.

In 2009, his first short feature documentary, "Rhose, Where Do Your Dreams Go?", was funded by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
In 2010 he participated in two production and mentoring workshops for his short documentary, "A Butterfly Taboo". This film chronicles the Ladlad Party during the 2010 Philippine National Elections in a personal poetic animation-documentary that illustrates how the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender community struggle for representation despite the notion of "acceptance" in contemporary Philippines. It won 3rd prize in the documentary category at the 23rd Gawad Alternatibo (Established in 1987 facebook.com/gawadalternatibo), a prestigious award giving body for alternative films in the Philippines.

In 2014, for the film "God BLISS Our Home" he attended mentoring programmes funded by the Goethe-Institut Philippinen, Philippinen, Alliance Française de Manille, UP Film Institute, Independent Filmmakers Cooperative, and De La Salle College of St. Benilde School of Design and Arts. God BLISS Our Home was also the result of a mentoring session at the Hanoi DocLab Southeast Asia summer workshop with the Dutch filmmaker Leonard Retel Helmrich. Short versions of this film were shown at the film festivals, NHK World Japan and National Geographic Korea.

In 2014, he finished his first full-length documentary A Journey to Haifa. Nawruz was raised in a Bahai family and the International centre for the Bahai Faith is in Haifa. This film is a poetic social-political documentary of a journey with his parents and sister as a gay man. It was selected as one of the ten finalist films for Cinetotoo: Philippine Documentary Film Festival (https://www.facebook.com/cinetotoo)

"God BLISS our Home" (2017) 74 minutes (54 minutes), produced in Korea and The Philippines
Synopsis: BLISS (Bagong Lipunan Improvement of Sites and Services) is 1970s a government housing project in various locations around Manila. For decades, the BLISS site near the University of the Philippines Diliman campus, the country's premier state university, has become a shelter for local migrants, city workers, and college students — due to its relatively cheap rent. Filipino filmmaker and animator, Nawruz Paguidopon has been living here for 10 years. He struggles on intermittent freelance design and animation work, sells beauty products, joins a community lending scheme, and thinks of renting a whole flat in BLISS, to lease its rooms to others to earn and save money.
One day, his mother calls and asks him to come home. She is worried about his financial troubles and offers to help. Reluctantly, he agrees, and uses this opportunity to connect again with his family, especially with his mother whose values have always been old-fashioned.

"God BLISS our Home" is Nawruz’s self-portrait documenting his struggles to survive in Manila, his passion to pursue his dreams and continue making films, and his efforts to position himself in the vast socio-economic and political sphere of a fast-paced city. Set in a period when the Philippines is said to be regaining its strength after years of economic setbacks and poised to become one of Asia’s promising economies, "God BLISS our Home" follows Nawruz as he tries to hold onto his big dreams. Touching on various subjects such as poverty, politics, and history, it presents the hardships of a young Filipino wanting to find fulfillment personally and professionally. But it is also his personal letter to his mother, an attempt to make her understand his sexuality and his priorities in life.

"Te Ara ki Rangihoua: The Way to Rangihoua" by Yllwbro

This work by Yllwbro consists of scallop shells bearing moko kauae (Māori chin tattoo) along with a text referencing the Camino de Santiago - The Way of Saint James - a network of walking tracks in Northwestern Spain, the Hīkoi Rangihoua, the pilgrimage way initiative being developed by Te Hāhi Mihinare - the Anglican Church in New Zealand that returns to the site of the mission station established at Rangihoua in the Bay of Islands, where the Reverend Samuel Marsden celebrated the first Anglican service on Christmas Day in 1814 and the story of Tarore, the 12 year old daughter of Ngāti Hauā chief Ngakuku who attended the Mission School in Matamata and learned to read in Māori. At that time one of the few books available in the Māori language was a recently published translation of the Gospel of Luke. Tarore wore this text in a purpose-made kete (container) on a cord around her neck.

For this exhibition each shell was hung at the heart height of the first five overseas artists to participate in a "Take Care" zoom session. Each of their names,

Lloyd, Shaeron, Robert, Xiaojie and Nawruz

was pencilled onto the wall by their NZ partner.


Still in the video "Manners of Speaking - Te Pūkoro o Tāne" (2020) showing
"Te Ara ki Rangihoua: The Way to Rangihoua" (2018), Scallop shells, brown string, moko adhesive by Yllwbro with the five students who hung each work at their chest height for the 2020 exhibition curated by Sonja. Watch the 12 min video on youtube

Jumaadi, Sydney, Australia
/ Yogyakarta, Indonesia

and

Brenda Liddiard,
Auckland | Tāmaki-makau-rau

Brenda's free-form cloudscapes are juxtaposed with three images of Jummadi's work in his studio in Yogyakarta where due to covid, he has not been able to visit, since January 2020.

Jessy Rahman, The Hague, The Netherlands

and co-artists

Lipika Sen, Auckland | Tāmaki-makau-rau,
Prabhjyot Majithia, New Delhi, India

They responded to Jessy's photographic series, the Roaring Twenties. Sonja made an intervention incorporating a mirror, custom made shelf and a Kawakawa sapling.

Jessy Rahman (1961, Suriname) jessyrahman.nl | instagram.com/jessyrahman1081
The Surinamese lyrics: "boesi bari wo wo jo wo wo jo, a no bari wo wo jo wo wo jo," loosely translated as: "the bush is crying out in excitement, and yes indeed it is no ordinary sound." reflects Jessy's mixed heritage formed by customs and manners of the plantation owners, slaves and contract workers who came from many different parts of the world. His playful interactions with audiences, with adults, children, animals and/or plant life, are based on this rich cultural background. He has curated and co-curated many exhibitions in the artist run Quartair gallery quartair.nl of which he is a co-founder, as well as and other galleries around Europe. He participated in long term artist residencies were in Suriname (1994) and India (1997) and he has participated in short term art projects in Switzerland, Italy, Bosnia-Herzegovina, South Korea, Sweden the U.K. and Canada. In 2015 he participated in "Jump into the Unknown," at the 56th Venice Biennale. quartair.nl/jump-into-the-unknown/

Lipika Sen and Prabhjyot Majithia
They have worked collaboratively for 18 years on multi-dimensional works that include sculpture, acrylic on canvas, digital drawings, words, sound, music and film. A few of these are: the 6 meter high public art work: "The Firkee Wala - In My Heart Of Eternal Childhood" in New Plymouth; "Tricky Box 5 - The Curious Indian Water Well," shown at the NZ Sculpture on Shore 10th Biennale (2014) and then acquired by Tauranga Sculpture Park where it is permanently installed. They featured in the Ted X Tauranga 2015 and have shown in galleries across New Zealand including the Whakatane Museum 2015, the National Fieldays No. 8 Wire Art Awards 2014 - Waikato Museum, the Tauranga Arts Festival 2015, Hamilton Garden Arts Festival 2016 and in 2015 were commissioned to make a mural by the Tauranga City Council. The 4.5 meter high "Tricky Box Tree of Giving" commissioned for Tauranga's Christmas in the Park, features (in collaboration) Tiki Tane's song "No place like home" (See this youtube clip)
They were awarded the Asia New Zealand Foundation Grant for the Belgadia Palace Art Residency in Mayurbhanj, Odisha, India, resulting in an exhibition at Studio One Toi Tu, Auckland (Dec 2020 - Jan 2021) - asianz.org.nz
Their corten steel and timber outdoor sculpture "Gubbare Wala - the Balloon seller" remains on show in the Kaipara Sculpture Gardens until November 2021: kaiparacoast.co.nz
They also have an outdoor work in the 2021 Splore Music Festival : www.splore.net

Pieterje van Splunter, The Hague, The Netherlands

and

Phil Dadson, Auckland | Tāmaki-makau-rau

Phil installed a kinetic work in response to this painting of Pietertje's posted from the Netherlands.

Chiara Rubino, Matera, Southern Italy

and

Cathy Carter, Auckland | Tāmaki-makau-rau

Martin Wohlwend, Triesen, Liechtenstein

and

Naomi Roche, Hamilton | Kirikiriroa

Naomi was to re-create an adaption of Martin's 'Aus dem Gleichgewicht' (Out of Balance), project but due to ill health couldn't do this so other artists in the show installed the work for her. Martin's 2016 project was made in pre-COVID times and included a custom-constructed uneven floor, and 'dialogues' with meditations, workshops and concerts (See our programme of events).

Some NZ-based 'TakeCare' artists brought their own mat or carpet to the gallery - leaving that area in their home bare for 3 weeks.

Martin R. Wohlwend (1969)
Martin lives and works in Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Istanbul. He studied art in the USA, China and Switzerland (Master of Fine Arts, Art in the Public Sphere) and teaches painting at the Kunstschule Liechtenstein (Liechtenstein School of Art). With a background in painting, these days his focus is working with the transformative power of participatory installations and interventions to throw light on the imbalances in society. More: https://martinwohlwend.kleio.com/

Shaeron Caton Rose, North Yorkshire, U.K.

and

Ashleigh Taupaki, Auckland | Tāmaki-makau-rau

In light of their zoom discussions on caring and support, Ashleigh will weld 'waka huia' (vessel / container) structures to physically support Shaeron's work.

Shaeron Caton Rose
Shaeron has exhibited and worked as an artist for over 30 years. She has a Fine Art degree and MA. Her work is in installation and printmaking and she also works in Social Art and wellbeing and art practice, running retreats and community art projects across Yorkshire UK. She is also Workshop Leader in Print at Henshaws Arts & Crafts Centre for adults with a disability in her hometown of Knaresborough. She writes a weekly art meditation for Leeds Methodist Mission which can be found on her website blog. Her forthcoming book "Soul Art" provides a manual for delivering art and wellbeing retreats to the community (Wild Goose Publications September 2021). In 2020 she and fellow artist Linda Baines set up ReCreate, a charity delivering art and wellbeing retreats to communities in areas of deprivation. Links below for artist and charity websites.
www.shaeron.com | www.recreating.net Shaeron also has a work in the Postcards from the other side project.

Ashleigh Taupaki (b. 1997, Waitakere, New Zealand)
She lives and works in Tāmaki-makau-rau, Auckland, New Zealand and explores Māori connections to place through concepts of indigenous narrative and non-human agency. Working with hard materials, she creates sculptures that manifest ideas of kaitiakitanga (stewardship) and collaboration with natural resources. She depicts places that are significant to her own ancestral origins in Hauraki, New Zealand, and strives to revitalise the stories and knowledge of her people and lands.
Her recent exhibitions include "Where You From", Te Uru (2020), the "New Artists Show", Artspace Aotearoa (2020), "Matā", RM Gallery (2020) and has written for Mayfair Art Fair, and a number of independent zines. She has recently been awarded a Ngā Manu Pīrere Award from Creative New Zealand for her achievements as an emerging Māori artist. She has recently completed an MFA at Elam School of Fine Arts, The University of Auckland.

Masud Olufani, Atlanta, USA

and

Ursula Christel, South Africa and Auckland | Tāmaki-makau-rau

Masud Olufani is an Atlanta based actor, mixed media artist, and writer whose studio practice is rooted in the discipline of sculpture. He is a graduate of Morehouse College, and The Savannah College of Art and Design where he earned an M.F.A. in sculpture in 2013. www.masud-olufani.com

Olufani's 2019 work, "The Wealth of the Nation" (graphite on paper and burned copy of Scottish economist and moral philosopher, Adam Smith's, The Wealth of Nations, first published in 1776) is a framed installation. The drawing depicts a detailed portrait of an African American women, whose face bears the marks of time. Her anonymity suggests she represents many similar faces. Masud destroyed the book by sawing it in half and then burning it with a blowtorch. The charred remains were coated in resin and framed beneath the portrait.

For the "Take Care / E Tiaki" exhibition, the presentation of this work will be reinterpreted by Ursula Christel in New Zealand - in consultation with Masud. Themes of colonialism, racism, and exploitation are also relevant in NZ - a country that is only now introducing a bi-cultural History curriculum, to be taught in schools from 2022.

Ursula Christel is a multidisciplinary artist, tutor, writer and inclusion advocate for the disability sector. Born in South Africa, she studied Fine Art and Art History at the University of Kwazulu-Natal. She immigrated to NZ in 1996. After representing Yllwbro (an anonymous sibling duo) for the New Perspectives 2016 show at Artspace in Auckland, she became part of the Mokopōpaki whānau (wider family). Mokopōpaki is a unique art-promoting entity and gallery space, located in Karangahape Road, Auckland, New Zealand.
One of Ursula's 3 sons has Angelman syndrome. Due to a lack of resources and awareness on this rare disorder, she co-founded The Angelman Network in NZ in 2011 (www.angelman.org.nz ) and International Angelman Day in 2013 (www.angelmanday.info ). She recently founded a new charity (RICI) in 2020, to promote a model for full inclusion in the local Rodney District community. Ursula is particularly drawn to collaborative projects with fellow creatives and diverse communities.
www.ursulachristel.com/

Emma Papadopoulos, Athens, Greece

and

Naomi Roche, Hamilton | Kirikiriroa,
Sonja van Kerkhoff, Kawakawa

Naomi and Sonja respond to Emma's Philoxenia, a series of paintings, posted from Greece.

Philoxenia is a word of Greek origin literally meaning 'friend to a stranger'. Philoxenia pertains to taking care of, looking after, being hospitable.
My tavern chairs, my cultural reference to Greek hospitality, are empty right now due to lockdown. My chairs however, symbolise in this instance how strangers become friends and take care of facilitating a mutual cultural expression, that is, art.
Emma Papadopoulos
2021, Greece

Emma Papadopoulos is a British Cypriot painter born in the UK where she studied Art & Design and Fine Art.
She has exhibited her artworks across Europe, most notably, the Florence Biennale, The Athens Art Council, the Athens 2004 Cultural Olympics and the Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre, among numerous others. Her first artworks to be exhibited in a group show in Auckland, New Zealand go on display at Arthaus Contemporary in March 2021.
In addition to exhibiting her paintings, Emma set up Outdoor Galleries in 2019 where she organised and curated a group exhibition comprising the works of international artists in a show entitled 'Urban Facelift', whose aim is to enhance the urban landscape through displaying large scale prints of original artworks outdoors. The exhibition concept was the essence of a talk she gave at the Medea 2019 Symposium on Art, Science and Technology held in Greece.
Emma also holds an MSc in Profound Learning Disabilities.
Emma also has a work in the Postcards from the other side project.

Xiaojie Zheng, San Francisco, U.S.A. / Wenzhou, China

and

April Shin, Auckland | Tāmaki-makau-rau (Korea)

Pairings of monoprints by April and images and text by Xiaojie.   

Nicosia Crossing (The Green Line)

Aodhan Floyd

and

Sen McGlinn

with Emma Papadopoulos, Bev Goodwin + Sonja van Kerkhoff


A site specific installation incorporating Aodhan's drawing of his father standing in the UN buffer zone in Cyprus. Emma's thoughts as her father is a Cypriot. Reflections on Sonja's performance across the Nicosia green line, Bev's green seepage from above, and Sen's reflections and physical interventions, on the whole.

Narjis Mirza, Sydney, Australia / Pakistan

and

Michelle Mayn, Auckland | Tāmaki-makau-rau

Project/installation description:
This animated projection by Narjis referencing the nukta, the dot which symbolises the beginning of everything, will be installed by Michelle as kaitiaki. Multiple layers of silk chiffon act as a translucent filter for light and scent to create a multi-sensory, site-specific installation.

Narjis Mirza
Narjis Mirza is a PhD candidate at Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand. She is also recipient of the Vice Chancellors Doctoral Scholarship. Her research examines the potential of light and its metaphysical resonance with digital technologies in building the notion of reality; Narjis takes inspiration from Muslim philosophers, most notably Mulla Sadra Shirazi and Shihab Ud Deen Suhrawardi. Narjis plans to expand the dialogue on being and reality through concept films and light installations.

Narjis completed her masters' degree in media and design at Bilkent University Ankara. Prior to beginning her Masters program, she launched an independent public art studio called Artjamz.pk that worked in collaboration with an art studio in Washington DC. Narjis also received distinction for her bachelor’s in fine arts at the National College of Arts in Pakistan. She began her career as a painter and has exhibited internationally. Her short film "The Line" was in the official selection of the 5th Art by Chance ultra-short film festival. Narjis is an artist, an entrepreneur and an academic; she lives and works in Auckland and Sydney.

Michelle Mayn
Through durational processes and time spent with the natural world, Michelle Mayn combines harakeke fibre with found materials using processes of weaving, binding, twining, and knotting that stem from a practice of Maori weaving. Mayn's process-based practice places primacy on materials and the actions or events of making. Through detailed manual processes and durational techniques, material, light, form and movement are combined to create ephemeral object-based installations and sculptures that explore the mauri (life force) of materials beyond the world of sense perception.

Mayn was born in Auckland in Aotearoa, New Zealand and studied Traditional and Contemporary Maori Weaving at Unitec in 2011 and mixed media at The Art Students League of New York in 2017. Mayn has exhibited regularly in New Zealand and the United States since 2010 and has recently completed a Masters of Visual Arts with Honours (First Class) at Auckland University of Technology.

Selfies from the Other Side

Selfie by Xiaojie Zheng, 25 January 2021
11:35 a.m., 25 January 2021,
25th Street in Potrero Hill district in San Francisco, U.S.A.
It was 11 Celsius and I was walking my dog in the neighborhood.
The two tents were set up for Covid testing and people were lined up.
This is new as it was not there the day before.


Selfie by Nawruz Paguidopon, 14 February 2021
Quezon City, Manila, The Philippines.


Selfie by Robert Hamilton.
3 p.m., 13 February 2021, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.


Time: last minute.                             Selfie by Lloyd Lawrence, 2021
ran out of digits
ran out of sky altogether
not a stitch on
st. valentine's day
minimum wage freak &
gentrification stroll
for chocolate for anything
just as sweet. Brooklyn
New York I love you.

Postcards from the Other Side
by Aodhan, Nawruz, Emma, Shaeron, Xiaojie and Ursula

Postcards from the Other Side features images inserted into a birdcage wall installation. Five metal 'postcards' capture images taken in January 2021 - from Ireland, the Philippines, Greece, the UK and San Francisco.

Collated by Ursula Christel (as a follow-on from her work 'Essential Services/ Postcard Rack', 2020), the artists first connected via zoom, sharing their experiences of life in lockdown - the isolation, deprivation, loss, and the radical lifestyle changes they have had to make.

Traditionally, postcards are positive pictorial reminders of exciting sea and air travel, tourists, destinations, holidays and postal communication. But in the Covid-era, the travel sector has become severely restricted and, in many places, totally halted.

Instead, Covid-19 and its variants have become the tourists - continuing to 'travel' while abruptly changing the social environment of all our familiar landscapes, wherever it lands. These stark 'postcard' images remind us how much has changed and how much we all took for granted.

Ursula Christel